A man who was accused of attempting to shoot his pregnant wife in her sleep in 2015, Effort Dankwa, has been sentenced to 39 years in prison.
The sentencing comes after a court made up of a seven-member jury found the accused person guilty of attempted murder, according to a cousin of the victim, who goes by the Twitter name, Hon Cisca.
Cisca in a tweet shared on March 10, 2023, said that the victim, Benita Dankwa, who was shot when she was eight months pregnant, has been left paralyzed.
“About 8 years ago, my cousin’s husband shot her in her sleep whiles she was 8 months pregnant, leaving her paralyzed from chest down.
“The shot was targeted at her chest, definitely wanted to kill her, because he didn’t want a child. Today, he’s been found guilty, and wow,” Cisca wrote on March 10.
In an update shared on the case, on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Cisca wrote, “Update: He has been sentenced to 39 years imprisonment."
Benita’s parents, who were present when the verdict was reached, expressed their joy that justice had finally been served.
“It is not the number of years he is going to spend in prison that matters to me, but the fact that he has been proven guilty is my main interest. I am satisfied and okay with the court,” Benita’s father, Seth O.S. Yirenkyi, told journalists.
Her mother, on the other hand, said, “My heart is at peace and comforted by God’s word that patience begot victory. Jehovah is a lover of justice. If, after all these years, they have investigated and found that he is guilty, then that is God’s verdict. It isn’t that I am happy or sad. My daughter is forever incapacitated, but the truth has been unveiled.”
Background:
In 2015, the victim, Benita Dankwa, was shot by her husband Effort Dankwa at close range to her chest while she was 8 months pregnant, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down.
The incident which was reported to the police at the time has now received justice after almost eight years. Effort Dankwa, who is now 36 years old, was arrested after police investigations identified him as the prime suspect.
His wife, Benita who was 29 years old at the time the incident occurred was rushed to the Tema General Hospital where her husband failed to admit that his wife was shot in an attempted murder.
She was later referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after doctors on duty at the time noticed the gunshot wound in her chest.
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The verdict comes after a seven-member jury found Effort Dankwa guilty of attempted murder